If you're like me, coffee is more than a drink. It’s your daily pick me up when you’re in an energy slump. It’s your company during an all-nighter when you have to meet that important deadline. It’s your comfort during a cold morning.

Every day, like clockwork, I have my daily brew of extra dark roast coffee.

Black. No milk. No sugar. Just straight up coffee. Don’t worry you can think that’s crazy. There have been many people that this strikes as odd. I say that it’s not odd, it’s bold (like my coffee).

If you’re not a coffee drinker, you probably love its pleasant aroma that fills the room.

While coffee may be a great mood booster, it may be even better at protecting your health! Cheers! That’s something to drink to (we’re still talking about coffee, ok?). In this post, we talk about how drinking 2-4 cups of coffee per day positively impacts your health, and the ideal times to drink coffee. And no, it’s not when you first wake up! Stay with us to find out.

Coffee Keeps Diabetes At Bay

Coffee reduces your risk of developing Type II diabetes. Type II diabetes is a lifestyle related disease and happens when the pancreas does not respond to insulin or produce not enough insulin. It is estimated that it affects over 300 million people worldwide. Some studies have proven that coffee drinkers have 23 to 50% lower risk of developing type II diabetes (1, 2). Another massive research carried out by approximately 458,000 participants and data from 18 studies also proved that individuals who drank a cup of coffee lowered their risk of developing type II diabetes by 7%( 3). Let’s get one thing straight; this was coffee and not the frappe mocha latteccino laced with tablespoons of sugar.

Coffee Helps Reverse Damage to Your Liver

The liver is an important organ that carries out over hundreds of vital functions in your body. However, your liver can take a beating over time as it filters out alcohol and toxins to keep the rest of your body in tip top shape. Different studies have shown that coffee drinkers who drank four or more cups daily can reduce the risk of cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) by as much as 80%(4, 5, 6). Another study proved also that coffee can lower the risk of liver cancer by 40% (7, 8).

Fights Depression in Women

Depression is common but a very serious mental illness. People all over the world, even famous people, battle depression all the time. Some hopeful news was found in a study with over 208,000 people. It found that those who drank at least 4 or more cups daily were less likely to commit suicide by 53% (10). Another study by Harvard study published online in 2011 found that women who drank 4 or more cups per day lowered their risk to become depressed by 20% (11).

Coffee Lowers the Risk of Developing Prostate Cancer

The development of cancer in men’s reproductive system (prostate) is known as prostate cancer. Aside from skin cancer, it is the most common cancer among men. Research performed shows that men who consistently drank 6 or more cups of coffee per day had 60% lower risk of developing lethal prostate cancer (12).

When Is the Best Times To Drink Coffee?

Now that we know all the amazing things coffee can do in our lives, when is the best time to drink it? It actually has a lot to do with cortisol. Whenever I hear cortisol, I immediately have negative associations to it. Why? Well it is the hormone that is created when your body is under physical or emotional stress. It is also largely to blame for belly fat, which is explained in our ebook, Burn Your Belly Fat. But your body naturally produces cortisol every day to help your body stay alert. The peak cortisol times happen to be around 8:00-9:00am (13), which is when your body is approaching a natural state of alertness. It’s also when most people take a sip from their first cup of coffee. This can build up your tolerance to the caffeine and make it less effective.

I was guilty of being an early coffee drinker as well. It was more out of habit than necessity to wake up. But as of recently, I’ve been drinking my cup of Joe in the late morning or late afternoon when it’s most needed.

Be careful that you don’t consume caffeine too late into the day. Some say 5pm is ok, but if you feel like coffee interrupts your ability to sleep, then I’d say shoot for no later than 2pm to have your last cup.

Let us know below if you've made any changes to your routine by adding coffee to your routine because of all the positive press or if you've switched the time of day drink your coffee.